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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28282308">Out of the Bag</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnamongirl/pseuds/Cinnamongirl'>Cinnamongirl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Spider-Man (Video Games 2018-2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Past Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson, Pre-Canon, this isn't technically canon compliant but it's close</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:55:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,124</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28282308</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnamongirl/pseuds/Cinnamongirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if MJ and Felicia happened to run into each other after Peter and Felicia broke up, but before MJ and Peter got back together?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Yuletide Madness 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Out of the Bag</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomicpixiedust/gifts">atomicpixiedust</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>MJ usually didn’t investigate museum break-ins, but there was something weird about this one. </p>
<p>The fact that nothing had been stolen was only the second weirdest part. The weirdest was that nobody could tell how it had been done. There wasn’t any evidence that the security cameras had been tampered with, but they clearly showed the museum staff setting the alarm and locking the front doors when they closed for the evening and then nothing else until the morning, when the staff arrived to find that the doors were unlocked and the alarm had been turned off.</p>
<p>It could be a statement, or a warning, or just someone trying to prove that they could do something, but either way MJ was intrigued.</p>
<p>There wasn’t anything remarkable about the museum’s security, for better or worse. MJ’s bag wasn’t checked when she walked in but there were cameras everywhere and it seemed like there were a lot of employees on duty, especially for how small this museum was. Somewhere like the MOCA would have had a plan in place for an incident like this, but it was probably the most interesting thing that had happened here in a long time.</p>
<p>She walked around, trying to be sneaky without making it obvious that she was being sneaky. Some of the art was pretty interesting, but the intruder apparently hadn’t been interested in art. There was a security office near the front entrance that it would be impossible to break into without some kind of major distraction, but there were some other offices that were in a hallway that was mostly empty. MJ pretended to be admiring a large mixed media piece until the hallway was completely empty. She hadn’t seen anyone go in or out of the offices recently. She tried each door carefully, pretending to be looking at her phone with one hand while she leaned against the door and tried to turn the handle with her other hand. </p>
<p>One of the rooms was unlocked and she took a quick glance around before ducking inside and closing the door behind her. What she saw was fairly anticlimactic. It looked like the room was used for storage, but not for storing anything particularly exciting. There were boxes everywhere and a few filing cabinets and a desk in the corner that was covered in papers. MJ started rifling through them, taking pictures of anything that looked like it could be important. She had no idea what she was looking for but she knew that she didn’t have much time.</p>
<p>“I don’t think you’re supposed to be back here.”</p>
<p>MJ spun around and came face-to-face with a museum employee. Well, she wasn’t wearing a name tag, but she didn’t remember the other employees wearing them either, and the person certainly looked like someone who would work in an art museum. She was tall and curvy, wearing mostly black clothes and large, round glasses. She couldn’t be much older than MJ but she had white hair, pulled up into a high ponytail.</p>
<p>MJ’s phone vibrated in her pocket. It was probably something from work, nothing that couldn’t wait.</p>
<p>“What are you doing here, Red?”</p>
<p>“I can’t find my nephew and I thought he ran in here.” She looked around the room and then out in the hallway. “Evan?” she called out.</p>
<p>“I don’t think so.” The woman looked pleased with herself for catching her, but not actually angry. MJ wondered how she’d even managed to open the door without making a sound.</p>
<p>“I’m actually from the <em>Daily Bugle</em>.” The woman looked even more pleased with herself, proving that MJ’s hunch was right. “Can you tell me anything about the break-in? I bet you have to go through a really annoying insurance investigation, don’t you?”</p>
<p>“Why would insurance get involved? There wasn’t anything stolen.”</p>
<p>MJ leaned and lowered her voice. “That’s what the news has been saying, but I know better. We don’t always print the full truth.”</p>
<p>The woman’s eyes sparkled as she laughed. “I like you, Red. You’re clever.” She held the door open pointedly. “I think your nephew’s waiting for you, isn’t he?”</p>
<p>MJ stared at her but she wasn’t backing down. Oh well, there probably wasn’t anything worthwhile in the office anyway.</p>
<p>The missed call turned out to be from Peter, who had left a long, rambling voicemail that was almost impossible to understand over the sound of wind rushing past him and traffic getting louder and softer as he changed altitude. He was asking for help with something involving The Lizard and she got busy with research that ended up taking the rest of the day.</p>
<p>She didn’t think about the museum again until the next morning, when there was a report that a sculpture had mysteriously vanished last night. There weren’t any signs of another break-in, and of course the security cameras hadn’t caught anything useful. The interesting thing was that the sculpture wasn’t the largest or flashiest or most famous piece in the museum, but it was actually the most expensive. It had been loaned to the museum by a private collector who was by all accounts a complete asshole. </p>
<p>MJ would have liked to have had more time to look into the theft, but she had deadlines at work and Pete still needed help with the Lizard situation and she didn’t have the time or energy to worry about anything else.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It wasn’t until six months later when the topic even came up again. She was out with Peter, because of course she was, buying him dinner because somebody had to make sure that he was eating. He’d said that he was going to take it easy tonight but she could tell that he was wearing one of his Spider-Man suits under his clothes.</p>
<p>MJ scrolled through news headlines on her phone. “They caught Black Cat?”</p>
<p>“Yeah.” He looked sad, like he felt personally responsible. “She left the city, though. I’m not sure where she is now.”</p>
<p>She clicked on the article to read it and-</p>
<p>“I didn’t know that was what Black Cat looks like.”</p>
<p>“What?” he said, like he thought she was jealous or something. It was kind of insulting.</p>
<p>“I met her once. I think she might have been flirting with me?”</p>
<p>“What?!” he asked again, nearly choking on a mouthful of fries. “I don’t want to know.”</p>
<p>“All right, I won’t tell you.” She glanced at her phone again.</p>
<p>“Wait, never mind, I have to know.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” she said, and she tried not to think about how it felt good to know that he needed something from her. “There was a break-in at a museum, and I thought it was weird so I was trying to look into it…”</p>
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